Living the life by Pastor Ed Young

And suddenly, I am talking about out of nowhere, for no rhyme or reason—in fact I was talking to my brother about this situation last night. He said, “Ed I can’t talk about it because it makes me angry.” But out of nowhere in the middle of this big game the coach benched me. He didn’t play me. He totally betrayed me.

I was by far the best person on the team, talking to all of these major colleges around the county, and I was just there stuck on the bench. My whole world was spinning out of control.

My thing was basketball. That’s what I did. That’s what I worked on. I looked and to my shock and dismay, this guy totally and completely betrayed me. I trusted him, and he turned on me. It was horrendous. I was in the pit of betrayal.

Bitterness and anger welled up in my life, and I began to lash out at God. I began to say, “God, why me? You know I’m a preacher’s kid. I grew up in church, God. I am pure, I am holy, I am living the life, I am going to Bible study, and why me?”

Have you ever said that to God? Have you ever felt that way before? I mean I was only 17, at a defining moment in my life, and then all of my scholarship hopes, I thought, were just ripped from me. That was the first time I ever experienced betrayal.

Betrayal, you know, we don’t call it betrayal anymore. Now and then we will, but today we say, “I was jammed, hosed, stabbed in the back, or messed around.” Yet we don’t call it what it is because when we say betrayal, it is too personal. It gets in our stuff. It comes into our kitchen and it gets between—if you are a woman, you and your make up. And if you are a guy, it gets up in your grill.